BEN Ryan came, saw, selected, mentored, groomed and conquered both Fiji as well as the world. He is now a legend after having re-written the history of rugby sevens in Fiji. He has also written the history of rugby sevens at the Olympics by overwhelming Rio with his gallant Fijian warriors. Now he is gone and we are left to speculate on what comes next.
Speculative pieces keep coming up in the media on who should replace Ben Ryan and whether he can be enticed back for one more golden ride with us. In this article, I use news pieces as well as recorded interviews to analyse Ryan’s arrival, contribution, successes and departure. I then attempt to foresee why he will return to Fiji.
The arrival
Ben Ryan came to Fiji during a “low” in his career. He was being hemmed-in by the decision making structures in England 7s rugby. Fans will recall that the same was done to eject Serevi from the 7s scene here —— we lost a good man in the process, just like England lost Ben Ryan.
At one time FRU was so determined to remove Serevi that they had more selectors than rugby players to select the Fiji 7s team! Serevi was dropped at the grounds as he prepared to take his team for an afternoon training run —— just like that, go home! He upped and left; then he focused on his strengths and zoomed into spinning this into business. His successes have since carried him further and further away from us.
Ryan was faced with something akin to this when he decided to take a punt with Fiji. His punts however, are thought out very carefully and characteristically laced with brilliant prognoses. He was seeking redemption in his chosen profession while re-establishing self-belief. He was looking for a fresh environment and a new challenge that was big enough to keep him focused.
This, he found in Fiji. We had an abundance of 7s talent, a rocky performance record with unpredictability written all over us and we had a quiet environment far away from home that would allow for experimentation, change and a steady build-up to a near-impossible target —— the Rio Olympic gold medal.
Weaving the Ryan magic
Ryan dug into the team immediately after signing his contract; he clearly meant business. That first success in Dubai 2013 —— when Fiji steamrolled NZ 44-0 and blasted South Africa for the title 29-17 —— got the ball rolling. This was after we won the plate final in Gold Coast beating Kenya 36-0.
On the way to that plate in Gold Coast, we lost to Wales 19-22 in pool play, lost to England in the cup quarters 26-12 and gave the nation an almighty scare against Samoa in the plate semis just scraping through 31-26. The writing was on the wall —— Fiji lacked consistency and it was back to the world of topsy-turvy results.
Ryan’s biggest challenge was to change the attitude of his team and his first casualty was the hugely talented, popular and apparently indispensable Ilai Tinai. With that he tested the waters, got the support he knew he would need for sustained and long-term success and he got into serious work.
The sacrifices made by Ryan are well recorded, so I will not cover them here. What needs to be noted however, is that he worked extremely hard to win the respect of his squad and maintain this despite the fact that he used an extended squad structure where causalities were both expected and accepted throughout his 3-year stay with us.
Fiji fans are known for their high expectations and quick criticism when it comes to 7s rugby; Ben Ryan made sure that he satisfied and shut them up with the team’s performance both on and off the field. Two series titles back-back (2015-2016) was just beyond belief, but we began clamoring for Olympic Gold and he knew what this meant for the country.
The Olympic gold
The gold medal in Rio was the crowning glory of Ben Ryan as coach, Osea Kolinisau as captain, the team as a whole (non-players included) and, in particular, Prime Minister Bainimarama. It was Bainimarama who decided that something was not right at Rugby House and it was Bainimarama who backed Ryan when we were talking about pride lost in getting a foreign coach.
That backing and trust from the highest authority in the land was absolutely necessary for Ryan and the boys to keep their focus on the Rio campaign. When the PM travelled to Rio, there were mumblings of “junket” and “waste of money”. Critics could not see the significance of this presence of the PM during Fiji’s first real attempt at an Olympic medal.
The Olympic campaign had clearly galvanised the nation and we knew we could do it. That’s why we repeatedly told the team in that iconic song, “get back the gold from Rio”. The PM and his wife epitomised and provided that national support that is so important to change the “can do” to “will do” to “did it”. That’s the role that parents play in our lives.
The significance of that gold victory is well caught in speeches made by Ryan, Kolinisau, the PM and other leaders. Historically, Germany rose like the Phoenix after the 1936 Berlin Olympics; Japan was catapulted to rapid growth after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics; Canada got a dose of adrenalin after the 1976 Montreal Olympics; and Korea became an economic dragon after the 1988 Seoul Olympics to name a few. Suffice to say that our gold medal has unlimited promise in this regard.
After Rio
Since that famous moment when we accepted each gold medal from Princess Anne with a traditional cobo, Fiji has been on a high. Foreign contracts have come flying and some of the boys have signed to leave while others have decided to stay. Jerry Tuwai has a short film contract and is now officially a chief thanks to the Vunivalu mai Natewa and the Vanua o Kama from Cakaudrove.
Ben Ryan is now Ratu Peni Raiyani Latianara thanks to the province of Serua and the Vunivalu of Serua —— Ratu Peni Latianara. He is now formally accepted as a son of Serua which he so fondly referred to in his famous introductions —— “I am Peni Raiyani from Serua”. Numerous lucrative offers have also come his way including a movie contract from Hollywood. He has instead taken a well-deserved rest in his English home.
Will Peni Raiyani return?
Yes, because he is now a son of Serua and we have shown him the true spirit and hospitality of the true Fijian —— he loves it. He had to leave because he reached the pinnacle of his career at the Rio Olympics with the Fiji 7s team. It was the sweetest of victories because Fiji vanquished Team Great Britain in the final. And at the head of Team Fiji stood the Englishman, Ben Ryan. There could hardly be any sweeter redemption.
Now he has to consider his options and make another careful decision. He cannot continue with the Fiji team because it can only go downhill from here —— what if we lose Gold Coast? How will the public react? What if he cannot get a third series win? He knows that he risks all this; that’s why he has talked of moving on.
Super Rugby has been mentioned as an option and I think the Auckland Blues are tailor-made for him. They have a heavy abundance of talent (especially of the Pacific Islander pedigree). They also have an erratic win-loss record over a long period of time. The Blues have not been the Blues of the Sean Fitzpatrick era. They have been silently screaming for a redeemer and Ben Ryan has all the credentials for this type of situation.
The Auckland Blues clearly offer a big enough challenge for Ben Ryan to start chomping at the bit. Of course, the framework will have to be negotiated —- decision-making powers, selection of players, calls during play, remuneration package, etc. Ben will know what he wants after his stint in Fiji.
Will Ben Ryan return to coach Fiji?
In order to answer this question we’ll have to ask two more: what have we done for Ryan and why will he choose to return? There’s no doubt that we have done all that we could for Ryan; in fact, we have probably cast a spell on him with our genuine hospitality and acceptance. On that front we cannot be faulted.
On the second question there are a few things to consider. Ryan will now chase his Super Rugby dream because it opens up a huge challenge for him. We have both heard about and seen that this man is moved by near-impossible challenges. It started with winning 7s tournament titles, then the series, then the Olympics —— that’s how it works for him.
After Super Rugby, which will take him through a number of years, what possibly could be a bigger challenge for him? That challenge lies right here in Fiji. It will be the year 2019 and Ryan will return to take up the biggest challenge of his career – to defend the Olympic Crown at Tokyo 2020 with his favourite team – Team Fiji.
Vinaka vakalevu and all the best Ratu Peni Raiyani Latianara —— we will wait for you.
Subhash Appana is an academic, sports and political commentator. The opinions contained in this article are entirely his and not necessarily shared by any organisations he may be associated with both in Fiji and abroad. Email subhash.appana@usp.ac.fj
